Press



M. MAESER Oct. 4, 1938.

PRESS Filed Aug. 5, 1937 Patented Oct. 4, 1938 PRESS Mieth MaeseriBeverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a corporation of New Jersey 7 Application August 5,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to presses and more particularly to presser members of the type utilized in clicking machines for applying pressure upon dies to force the latter through sheet material in cutting articles from such sheet material. The novel presser member is shown embodied in a press of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 921,503, granted May 11, 1909, on

mechanism, the presser member is caused to strike the die to force the latterthrough the sheet material. The presser member must be long'enough to reach practically all portions of the bed and strong enough to force the die through the material. It follows that the presser member must be strongly constructed. At the same time its Weight should be kept at a minimum con'sistent with the necessary strength, in order 'thatfthe work of the operator in swinging the presser. member may be minimized, thereby conservingthe operators energy for the far more important work of inspecting the leather and selecting and placing the dies. j It is an object of this invention to provide an effective presser member of a simple and durable construction which will at the same time be relatively light in weight and readily movable into and out of operative position over a die on the cutting bed.

. To these ends, andin accordance with an important feature of the invention, presser member of cantilever construction comprisesa plate, having a striking surface suitable to contact a die to force the latter through sheet material, in combination with a superstructure in truss formation secured to the plate to strengthen the same. It will be understood that the truss formation is designed to afford strength, sufiicient for thepurpose while atthe same time making it possible to keep the weight of the presser member at a minimum, due in part to the numerous open spaces in such a superstructure andin part to the use of relatively slender, light-weight memthe die and then, by tripping the usual clutch 1937,:seria1' No. 157,586

bers in the truss formation. Preferably, and as shown, the superstructure is composed of tubular steel members suitable for the purpose be cause of their relatively high strength in tension and compression, and their great rigidity as a column. Due to spaces between the tubular members of the superstructure, the presser member may be readily seized by the hand of the operator no matter what the. position of the presser ,member may be, thus facilitating substantially the operation of swinging the presser member laterally into and out of position over a die on the cutting bed.

These and other important features of the invention and novel combinations of parts will now be described in detail in the specification and then pointed out more particularly in the appende ed claims.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of part of a clicking machine showing in the presser member one embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1.

In Fig. l of the drawing, a presser member 4 of special construction is shown mounted rigidly upon a post 6 supported for rotation and for up Supported by the machine frame is a bed or ,cut- 1 ting block I l, the upper surface of the latter being in a plane which is substantially parallel with the plane of the lower face of the presser mem: ber or beam indicated generally in Fig. 1 by the reference numeral 4. Pivoted at 16 in the machine frame is a trip lever l8 having a link connection 20 to a clutch lever (not shown). Secured to the front end of the trip lever I8 is a handle 22. This handle is conveniently used to position the presser member 4 'over a 'die on the bed I4 andto swing the presser member away from the die after the latter has been forced through the Work piece, a downward movement of the same handle 22serving to trip the clutch (not shown) and cause a pressure applying operation of the presser member 4, it being understood in this connection that the post 6 is moved downwardly upon tripping the clutch to effect such movement of the presser member. Following a downward movement of the presser member and post 6, these parts are immediately returned to initial position so that the presser member may be free to be swung to one side of the die which has just been forced into the sheet material on the die block I4. For a more complete description of a press of this type, reference may be had to the Bates patent cited above.

Upon inspection of Figs. 1 and 2, it will be observed that the presser member 4 comprises two plates. Of these, the upper is a steel plate 30 to which is secured an aluminum alloy plate 32 substantially co-extensive therewith and serving to provide a suitable striking surface to contact and drive the dies through the sheet material being operated upon. The plate 30 is relatively thin and is reinforced by interconnected ribs or flanges 3i and 33 extending, respectively, crosswise and lengthwise of the plate 3!] and rigid therewith throughout their lengths. It is to be understood that the aluminum plate 32 is not necessary in all cases since the striking surfaces of presser members of this type have long been made of cast iron. However, for the quality of lightness, it is preferred to use an aluminum alloy plate of a suitable degree of hardness, more particularly when it is desired to avoid damage to the upwardly facing cutting edge of a die having cutting edges on both upper and lower sur-- faces.

Secured rigidly to the upper face of the plate 30 is a superstructure of truss formation designed to give the requisite strength to the presser member while at the same time retaining the advantage of lightness in the presser member. This superstructure comprises a plurality of interconnected trusses disposed side by side and extending substantially the full length of the plate 36. As shown these trusses comprise three longitudinally extending tubular members 34, 36, 38, which are rigidly connected at their forward ends by welding to the upper surface of the plate 38 and also rigidly connected at their rear ends to a semicylindrical steel piece serving as a clamp member 40. The lower end of the clamp member M! is also welded to the plate 30 at the rear end of the latter. These tubular members 34, 36, 38, while rigidly connected at their front and rear ends to the plate 39, are so spaced throughout their intermediate portions with respect to the plate 39 and so curved from front to rear that every part of each tubular member is subjected to compression in resisting the tendency of the plate 39 to upward movement while pressure is being applied to a die located near the outer end 'of the presser member.

Secured to each of the tubular members 34 and 38 are a plurailty of struts 54, 56, 58 and 60 welded to each other and to the plate 30 and to one of said tubular members to provide a triangular truss construction to transmit either tension or compression, as the case may be at any given instant, in a pressure applying operation. As clearly indicated in Fig. 2, these struts are also hollow, tubular members. To further strengthen the superstructure the tubular members 34, 3t; and 38 are joined by tubular members 62, 64, 55, 68, serving as tie-rods, and extending crosswise between the tubular members to join the same into a rigidly welded structure. The truss members or struts ltl, l2, l4, 16 connected to the tubular member 36 are vertically arranged, as indicated in Fig. 2, whereas the truss members 54, 56, 58 and 60 connected at their upper ends to the tubular members 34 and 38 are inclined upwardly and inwardly toward each other, thus givinga braced effect to the superstructure due to the approach to a triangular formation crosswise of the superstructure as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This braced arrangement is provided to carry forces on the outer 01' side edges of plate 30 into the superstructure and thus to the post 6 and to the machine frame. The braced formation also resists forces tending to bend or displace the superstruture in directions crosswise of the pressure member 4. It will be observed, therefore, that in all parts of the superstructure the relationship of the struts or truss members to each other is triangular since a triangular truss formation is particularly serviceable to the attainment of great strength and rigidity without undue weight. It is important to note that no matter where force is applied to the beam 4, the force of the blow is transmitted to the post 6 and to the machine frame which are strong enough to absorb it.

An advantage of the new presser member or beam, perceived only after the construction and testing of the first beam of its kind, resides in the ease with which it may be seized by the hand of the operator no matter what its position with respect to the bed. The tubular construction therefore facilitates greatly the desired manipulation of the beam, in contrast to the situation in prior constructions wherein it is necessary under most circumstances to reach for the tripping handle at the front end of the beam even though it causes the operator to leave his usual position, or lose his stance, at the center of the front of the bed. Furthermore, the new beam does not cast the shadow of the old beams. result is that the work pieces on the cutting bed are better lighted to a quite noticeable extent.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 1, there is a second clamp member for co-operation with the clamp member 40 in securing the presser arm 4 to the post 6, both clamp members 40 and 80 having openings at their lower ends for the arms of a U-shaped clamp 82 utilized to bolt the clamping members 40 and 8B securely together. At their upper ends the clamping members 40 and 80 are secured together by bolts one of which is shown at 84.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a clicking machine, a work support, a post, and a cantilever presser member supported by said post, said presser member comprising a striking plate and a strengthening superstructure of tubular members in truss formation rigidly secured to said plate.

2. In a clicking machine, a work support, a post, and a cantilever presser member supported by said post, said presser member comprising a relatively thin steel plate, an aluminum alloy plate secured to the under side of said steel plate to serve as a striking plate, and a strengthening structure in truss formation rigidly secured to the upper side of said steel plate.

3. A presser member for use in a clicking machine comprising a steel plate, a semi-cylindrical piece of steel welded to one end of the steel plate in vertical relation thereto to serve as a clamping member, and a strengthening structure in truss formation rigidly secured to said steel plate and to said clamping member.

4. A presser member for use in a clicking machine comprising a striking plate and a plurality of side-by-side interconnected trusses rigidly connected to said plate at all points of contact therewith and extending longitudinally thereof.

5. A presser member for use in a clicking machine comprising a striking plate and a superstructure in truss formation rigidly secured to said plate, said superstructure comprising a plurality The of steel members rigidly secured at their ends to said plate and extending lengthwise of the plate in spaced relation thereto, and a triangular truss rigid with each of said lengthwise members and with said plate in an'organization wherein said lengthwise members are rigidly connected by cross ties.

6. A presser member for use in a clicking machine comprising a striking plate, a semi-cylindrical piece of steel welded to one end of the steel plate in Vertical relation thereto to serve as a clamping member, and a superstructure in truss formation rigidly secured to saidplate and to said clamping member, said superstructure comprising tubular members rigidly secured to said plate at their front ends and extending lengthwise of the plate in an upward curve to said clamping member, and a plurality of triangular trusses rigid with said longitudinally extending tubular members and with said plate in an organization wherein said longitudinally extending tubular members are rigidly connected by cross ties.

7. A presser member for use in clickingmachines comprising a striking plate and a strengthening superstructure rigidly secured to said plate, said superstructure comprising three I tubular members, rigidly secured at their front and rear members of tubular formation rigid with each other and with said striking plate and serving to connect the three tubular members rigidly with said plate, and tubular cross ties rigidly connecting said threetubular members.

8. In a clicking machine, a work support, a. post and a presser member, said presser member comprising a striking plate, a plurality of tubular reinforcing members rigidly secured to the upper surface of the plate adjacent to the forward end thereof and converging upwardly and rearwardly, and means connecting the rearward end of the plate and the upper ends of said members to the post.

9. In a clicking machine, awork support, a post, a presser plate connected at one end to the post and extending forwardly over the surface of the work support, a plurality of tubular reinforcing members rigidly secured to the plate adjacent to its forward end and converging upwardly and rearwardly toward the post, and means connecting the upper ends of said members with the post.

MIETH MAESER. 

